Deck 17: Workforce: Optimizing Human Capital Printed

Question 1

Despite the link between customer and value, in many companies, management does not want employees to interact with customers.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

Reduction of labor costs (direct and indirect) has always been a goal of management.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

For many service encounters, the employees define the interaction experienced by customers.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Convenience, response time, and ethical issues are value attributes that result more from strategic decisions and less on the day-to-day actions of employees.

Question 5

The service profit chain is the equivalent of the supply chain for services.

Question 6

Flatter organization structures and increased involvement of employees in decision-making requires employees to have skills in problem solving and data analysis.

Question 7

For managers, productivity is often measured as some form of "outcome per hour" measure.

Question 8

Predetermined motion times are based on actual observations of an employee for a long enough time to gather representative times for the task of interest.

Question 9

In many nonrepetitive jobs, productivity is a result of how fast and employee works, and not how they spend their working time.

Question 10

Learning curves are applied to individuals, groups, and teams, but not organizations.

Question 11

Which of the following statements is true about the value of employee/customer interaction?

A) In most companies, management encourages employees to interact with customers.
B) The internet has narrowed the gap between employees and customers for many businesses.
C) Employees generally do not like interaction with customers as it makes their job more difficult.
D) The interaction between customers and employees adds no value for manufacturers.

Question 12

The value attribute that most likely requires specific skills and capabilities of employees is:

A) Convenience
B) Style and fashion
C) Technology
D) Ethical issues
E) Response time

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT a good approach for cutting back on employee perks?

A) Asking employees which perks are most important
B) Explaining the cutbacks in the context of the business
C) Scaling back without entirely eliminating the perks
D) Making cuts that affect only mid-level employees

Question 14

Customer loyalty:

A) Results in higher costs for customers.
B) Should be viewed by companies as a one-time source of revenue rather than as a long-term asset.
C) Can evolve into a customer being and advocate for the business
D) Cannot be expected to improve profitability

Question 15

Which of the following statements is NOT true of teams?

A) Teams are important for effective quality management and are heavily depended upon by companies using lean systems.
B) Teams require training and skill development to enable the employees to effectively function.
C) Teams depend on members to take on more responsibility as they gain expertise, until they reach a . point where they can take on all team responsibilities.
D) Teams and work groups are synonymous.

Question 16

Which of the following is an advantage of using teams?

A) Teams bring different perspectives and expertise in the projects.
B) Tasks are assigned to the various members, spreading out the work load, but the duration of the project is rarely reduced.
C) Teams increase customer loyalty.
D) Teams usually get less done than individuals

Question 17

Which of these statements appropriately describes the uses of teams?

A) The use of teams requires a smaller resource investment even though more people are involved.
B) Innovations coming from teams have greater level of creativity and more knowledge behind them
C) The use of teams to accomplish an improvement project reduces the importance of organizing the . efforts so resources are not wasted
D) Teams are best used for undefined "exploratory" projects that may or may not have upper-management support.

Question 18

In which stage of the project life cycle does the analysis of the current situation take place?

A) Stage 1
B) Stage 2
C) Stage 3
D) Stage 4

Question 19

Which of the following statement is not true about workforce productivity improvement?

A) For managers, productivity is often measures as the productivity of the assets that fall within their span of supervision.
B) Improving employee productivity generally means increasing the outputs, given the same amount of time.
C) Both the performance measurement systems and reward/punishment systems are critical in motivating employee behaviors.
D) Productivity measures of individual resources are, by definition, global measures.
E) In many cases, lack of productivity for employees is the result of the systems in which they work, not their lack of ambition.

Question 20

The resultant time, after the performance rating has been applied to the observed time, is known as:

A) Standard time
B) Normal time
C) Expected time
D) Task time
E) None of the above

Question 21

Work sampling is

A) Used as a means of determining time standards.
B) Is used to identify workers who are not productive.
C) Can be used to establish a base line learning rate.
D) Is used to determine how a worker spends his/her time.

Question 22

Which of the following statements is true about learning curves?

A) The number of repetitions determines the steepness of the learning curve.
B) Learning curves are frequently used in bidding processes.
C) Learning curves are always known with certainty in advance of the project.
D) A small error in learning rate assignment is generally inconsequential.

Question 23

Which of the following is an approach to creating time standards?

A) Stopwatch time studies
B) Fundamental motion studies
C) Work sampling
D) Job analysis

Question 24

If an individual's learning rate for a particular job was expected to be 90%, and it took four hours to complete the task the first time, how much time would it take this individual to complete the task the eighth time?

A) 4 hours
B) 3.626 hours
C) 3.241 hours
D) 2.916 hours
E) None of the above

Question 25

Despite the link between customers and value, in many companies, management does not want _______ to interact with customers.

Question 26

Understanding the value added by the workforce requires understanding the link between _____ ____ and _____.

Question 27

_______, _______, and ________ value attributes are aspects of the product or service production system that requires specific skills and capabilities on the part of employees.

Question 28

The ______ ______ _____ creates a sound logical link between employee satisfaction and profitability by demonstrating the link to customer loyalty that can be created by the workforce.

Question 29

Businesses that try to develop loyalty view the customer relationship as a ____ asset with a lifetime value rather than a ______ source of revenue.

Question 30

_______ and ______ depend heavily on well-trained worker teams.

Question 31

The use of teams effectively requires a _______ resource investment than assigning a task to an ______, but the outcome is _____.

Question 32

Flexibility of individual employees is often enhanced through the use of _______.

Question 33

A ____ ____ defines the amount of time it should take to complete a task.

Question 34

Learning curves can apply to ______, ______ and ______.

Question 35

Match these items.

-Customer experience grid

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 36

Match these items.

-Stop watch studies

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 37

Match these items.

-Learning curve

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 38

Match these items.

-Contingent workers

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 39

Match these items.

-Standard time

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 40

Match these items.

-Local measures

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 41

Match these items.

-Work sampling

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 42

Match these items.

-Pre-determined motion times

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 43

Match these items.

-Performance rating

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 44

Match these items.

-Continuous improvement

A) How an observer perceives the employee compared to "normal" employees
B) Created through detailed analysis of film footage of jobs
C) Elimination of non value-adding process steps
D) Determines how an employee is spending time
E) Productivity measures of individual resources
F) Workers getting better at what they do after many repetitions
G) Based on actual observation of an employee for a long enough time to gather reliable data
H) Normal time adjusted to incorporate allowances
I) Might be used for seasonal demand fluctuations
J) An effective way to look at customer loyalty

Question 45

A manager wants to determine an appropriate learning rate for a new job his firm will undertake. He has obtained completion times for the initial six repetitions of a job of this type. What learning rate is appropriate? $\begin{array}{cc} &\text { Completion} \\\text {Unit}&\text {Time (hours)}\\\hline 1 & 18.4 \\2 & 13.1 \\3 & 10.4 \\4 & 9.2 \\5 & 8.1 \\6 & 7.1\end{array}$

Question 46

The need to empower the entire workforce in order for quality efforts to succeed has long been recognized, even though such empowerment has only recently been put in practice. You have been recently hired as the Human Resource Manager of a mid-size manufacturing company and one of your primary tasks is to initiate and implement a program that empowers the work force. Discuss some strategies that you will initiate in order to ensure successful empowerment of employees. Also, provide some specific examples of how you would involve employees more directly in decision-making processes.

Question 47

You have been recently hired as an employee in the human resource management department of a midsize service organization. To your dismay, you find out that the company currently relies on subjective estimates of job times. You approach your boss regarding this issue and she is very impressed at your initiative and suggests you develop and present an alternative work measurement system. In a memo to your boss, you need to discuss briefly the most commonly used methods of work measurements, the methods you feel would be most suitable to your company for repetitive and non-repetitive jobs, and what information does the company need to gather in order to incorporate these new work measurement techniques